Greg Morse: Freelance Journalist Focus

Greg Morse is a freelance journalist writing about the rail industry. He also writes about railway history, literature, music and theatre.

This week, FeaturesExec caught up with Greg to discuss his work, his most memorable piece, and what he’d do with £1,000.

About your journalism:

What do you write about?
At the moment, I work in the rail industry and this involves writing a lot of reports! These are largely about safety, although I write privately on railway history, literature, music, the theatre – and have even written about coins in the past.

Where are we likely to see your work?
Traction magazine (published by Warner’s) is a major freelance outlet, although my thesis was published as John Betjeman: Reading the Victorians by Sussex Academic Press last year, so I suppose I should add ‘all good bookshops’ (plus a few of the bad ones, I hope).

I’ve also launched a website – <a href="http://www.gbmeditorial.co.uk".www.gbmeditorial.co.uk – to offer my editing and proofreading services to industry, new writers and students.

What’s the most memorable work you’ve done?
Certainly the most satisfying was the feature I wrote on an early Beatles concert in my home town of Swindon. Local history projects are always stimulating, but when you add music into the mix, it’s even better.

What interview or feature would you love the chance to do?
I’d like to write more about music, but anything that challenges me would be welcomed. I think interviewing Tony Benn would be interesting. I agree with most (though not all) of his views and I greatly admire his determination, passion for what is right and his honest approach. ‘Dare to be a Daniel’ – which he took as the title of one of his books – is a fine sentiment by which to live, I think.

About you:

How would you pay the bills if you weren’t a journalist?
I fear it would be as an accounts clerk, which I was once before, but not as a hairdresser’s assistant, which I was also once before – briefly!

If we gave you £1000, how would you spend it?
I should like to take a luxury train journey from Euston to Kyle of Lochalsh in Scotland, mirroring the journey made by Michael Palin in the early 1980s. I’d like to see how much of what he saw is still there. Let’s be honest, I’d like to sample as much of the local distillery products as I could too, although I’m sure my partner would have something to say about that…

What’s the best advice anyone ever gave you?
Never give up.

What books are on your bedside table and magazines in your bag?
At the moment, I’ve got Edward Thomas’s biography of Richard Jefferies and John, Paul, George, Ringo & Me by Tony Barrow by the bed, while ‘The Author’ and ‘Railnews’ are in the bag.
[img|jpg|Greg Morse]
[lnk|http://www.journalistdirectory.com/pr/XiTQA/Greg-Morse|_blank|FJD: Greg Morse]